《How to Write Stories People Will Love》3. Find Inspiration
Advertisement
If you're ever stumped for ideas on what to write, there are two things I recommend.
A story that I recently finished was inspired by a random thought I had while walking the dogs. They were sniffing intently at a bush, and I thought to myself, "I wonder what it's like to smell things as well as they do?" My brain then followed that rabbit down a hole and a story began forming. (Incidentally, this story is now on Wattpad! Look for My Mother Runs With Wolves on my profile. Website users can click on the External Link.)
Encourage your brain to think random thoughts. In any direction.
What would it be like to live on the moon? How high could you jump?
Do alligators really survive in the sewer? What do they live on?
How much time did Richard Adams spend staring at rabbits when he wrote Watership Down? Did his friends think he was crazy?
If teleporters ever get invented, I wonder if it'll get sabotaged by the airline and automobile industries?
Encouraging your mind to wander to pointless places sometimes sparks an idea for a story. My brain is always doing this on its own (I occasionally document these random thoughts in "My Hamster Wheel Brain" blog) and I'm often accused of spacing out. Some of these random thoughts give me ideas, and I'll scribble these ideas into a file for later reference.
Wandering thoughts usually aren't enough to come up with a story plot. The way you flesh out an idea is by asking what ifs. I'll take my previous wandering examples and apply what ifs to them...
What if they started colonizing the moon, and I volunteered? Would any of my friends and family go with me? What if I was in a relationship? What would happen to that?
Advertisement
What if these sewer alligators were actually robots created by a corporation to build something secret underground?
What if Richard Adams made his story about cats instead of rabbits? What might have changed?
What if teleporters do get invented, but big-money lobbies get laws to be passed that make them illegal? What if a small group of scientists keeps working on one anyway, what would they do with it? Would a black market teleportation industry spring up?
Now these wandering thoughts have more meat on them, more potential to turn into stories.
If your brain doesn't wander like mine does, there are other ways. The What If Game can be powerful. Take an existing fairy tale. Then what-if the heck out of it. Here's an example: Peter Pan.
What if Peter Pan was actually a girl? She could be Petra Pan. With Lost Girls instead of Lost Boys.
What if this was set in space? Maybe Peter Pan used a jet pack instead of fairy dust. Would Tinkerbell be an alien?
What if Captain Hook was Peter's father?
What if Peter Pan was like Mad Max, and the Lost Boys ran Thunderdome?
What if Peter somehow got old? (This has already been done, in that Robin Williams movie, Hook.)
What if Tinkerbell was big and ugly like a troll, instead of tiny, fluttery and cute?
As you can see, there are countless directions you can go in! Some of them may have been done already, but there are so many possibilities, that chances are good you'll find something original.
Maintain a file or notebook for all your ideas. No matter how dumb or tiny the idea might seem, write it down. You don't have to flesh it out. Just record what you have. Twice now, I've thought of nothing but a title. No clue what the plot was, or who the characters might be. Just a story title I thought was cool. I wrote them down and set it aside for several months.
Advertisement
Then later, as I recorded other ideas, I would peruse my previous ideas just for fun. Often these previous ideas will stir something in my creative space, and something will take root. Months later, I now have a complete short story, called "Sell Fish", and an in-progress novel from those two disembodied story titles I once wrote down.
Advertisement
- In Serial337 Chapters
The Immortal's Wine Store
A Heavenly God was transmigrated into a different world right after he died. After arriving in that world, he resides in the body of a handsome young man with a mechanical voice inside his head providing him with missions. It also kept on telling him to brew wine every single day.
8 3795 - In Serial8 Chapters
Sacrifice
Michael Strong never had a very good life nor he thinks he has done anything special. But then, something comes his way. Something that will finally change everything that was bad. Something which will give him the meaning he always wanted. But every meaning requires a sacrifice...
8 196 - In Serial8 Chapters
System
The story takes place on the world known as Edge, a place of fantasy and wonder. William Crow is an orphaned teen on the cusp of manhood, and is also a member of a class known as "soulless", for in this world those who do not develop their own "soul skill" become known as such. Soul skills vary in range and rarity, having many different functions and uses; however, not having one automatically makes an individual have incredibly low standing amongst society. William's inability to develop his own soul skill, along with the loss of his parents at a very young age, drives him into the corner of life. Making him a reserved and often frightened individual. However, his life changes drastically when he is chosen for one of the "Scouting" lotteries, in which the capital city forces some of the soulless to scout potential danger zones for monsters or enemy units. It's during this "mission" that he discovers the power that lies within him: System.
8 163 - In Serial7 Chapters
Son of Thunder
Right, I really suck at this synopsis crap. The story follows Taran as he grabs fate by the short hairs and makes his own destiny. Seizing a power that is not his by birth, he uses it to protect those he cares about. There will be magic, monsters and most likely some sex. (This is my first story here, give me some tips and pointers. My grammar may also not be up to snuff. As for a release schedule, nothing set in stone. Though I will try once ever week or two. Length of the chapters will vary. Mature 18+ Sex, violence, gore, strong language)(Holy shit, the old synopsis had some glaring errors.)
8 126 - In Serial69 Chapters
She, Tenacity
How do you forge a future when you're so busy dealing with today that you can't see ahead? Gab is bright, empathic and takes life as it comes. She lives in rural Australia with her struggling mum, Gina, and little brother Jack. Her friends are keen to see Gab reach beyond her current circumstances as school life comes to an end. But they don't understand that Gab's vocational choices are entirely shaped by her responsibilities to her family. Suddenly, things change. As home-life reaches a new crisis point, Gab's chains are unexpectedly broken. Her newfound freedom brings new opportunities ... but Gina's grip on her daughter remains. As Gab struggles for independence, something she never could have imagined threatens to bring her world crashing down around her. Can Gab break free of her past and build a life stronger and better than she has ever known? As consequences unfold, it will take all Gab's courage to push on.
8 250 - In Serial33 Chapters
Die Adoption die mein Leben veränderte || Lee Felix Sibling FF [PAUSIERT]
Li Yuna ist ein 8 Jähriges Mädchen die von einer Familie adoptiert wird. Sie muss nun von Deutschland nach Australien ziehen und dort ihr neues Leben beginnen. Auf einmal hat sie nicht nur relativ reiche Eltern sondern auch noch 3 ältere Geschwister. Als sie sich nach einem Unfall mit ihrem Adoptivbruder nicht an ihre alte Familie erinnern kann, ändert sich alles.
8 149

